Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Tradeshift Closes $75 Million Series D Round, Boosts Valuation to $500 Million.
  • Finovate Debuts: EquityZen Lets Wealth Managers Invest in Pre-IPO Companies.
  • Backbase Announces New CFO Leonore Van Waiij.
  • MyOrder, Wirecard Helps Power Shared Spending Functionality for GRPPY App.
  • Dyme Unveils Prototype of Facebook Saving Chatbot.

On FinDEVr

  • FICO Launches Falcon Assurance Navigator to Help Universities Monitor Federal Grant Spending.

Around the web

  • Chartis names CustomerXPs an Enterprise Solution player in the 2016 RiskTech Quadrant for Enterprise Fraud Tech.
  • Patch of Land Adds Institutional Investors to Real Estate Platform.
  • Prosper hires investment banks to explore raising more funds.
  • NuData Security Selected Best AntiFraud Solution at CardNotPresent Expo.
  • TechCrunch: Lending Robot makes Lending Club investing easy as setting screen brightness.
  • Tokbox launches its video broadcast solution for producers.
  • Banking Technology: Goldman Sachs to use technology from Infosys to power its new digital bank, GS Bank.
  • Business Insider features Finovate alums Azimo, eToro, Currency Cloud, and Zopa in list of potential future U.K. fintech unicorns.
  • True Potential wins Best Use of Technology at Money Marketing Awards 2016.
  • CreditHQ announces special freelancer rate.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Actiance Brings on Naresh Bansal as New CFO”
  • “Twilio Readies for $100 Million IPO”
  • “PayNearMe Acquires Prism Money to Offer Bill Presentment for Enterprise Clients”
  • “Featurespace Falls on a Fresh $9 Million in Funding”

On FinDEVr

  • “OakNorth, ‘The First Cloud-Based Bank in the U.K.’ is Powered by Mambu”

Around the web

  • Dataconomy interviews Georg Ludviksson, Meniga CEO and co-founder.
  • The WSJ: “Lending Club Talking With Citigroup About Loan Purchases”
  • Cachet Financial Solutions to power Mobile Deposit for LCNB National Bank.
  • American Banker highlights Suresh Ramamurthi, chairman and CTO of CBW Bank.
  • eToro appoints Joe Hall as its new managing director of business in the U.K.
  • Let’s Talk Payments takes a look at the post-acquisition relationship between Envestnet and Yodlee.
  • Ethoca teams up with the Online Payment Exchange (ONPEX) to stop ecommerce fraud using early warning alerts.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Lending Club’s Stock Price is Not a Leading Indicator for Fintech

Lending Club’s Stock Price is Not a Leading Indicator for Fintech

Lending-Club-NYSE

Lending Club (LC) will always have a fond place in my heart. Renaud Laplanche’s small team presented at our very first Finovate in 2007. And until a few months ago, they were our most successful startup alum, at least measured by company valuation (Credit Karma gets the nod for now). While LendingClub is still a unicorn (market cap = $1.5 billion today), the loss of 7 or 8 unicorns’ worth of market cap in the past 12 months is unsettling.

I have had little interaction with the company in the past few years as it moved from demoing tech at Finovate to keynoting alt-lending events. But I’ve always been a fan, both of the business model, and also of Laplanche and the company as a whole. I will say this, though, they were one of our more intense alums. But that’s not necessarily a negative. That’s often what it takes to scale in the difficult world of consumer credit where one misstep can sink you (RIP Nextcard).

But they’ve also been willing to give back. Laplanche personally introduced us to a potential strategic partner several years ago. He did it purely as a friendly favor. It was long past the point where he had anything to gain from that introduction.

So, yeah, it’s been hard to watch the s***storm of the past 10 days. I was preoccupied with FinovateSpring during the worst of it last week, but I’ve been soaking up the various articles the past few days. I agree with Peter Renton’s post today: Lending Club must overcome some serious challenges in the short-term. But to say that the marketplace lending model is broken (paywall warning), or to jump to the conclusion of a fundamental flaw in the entire fintech industry is just so much hyperbole.

lc ytd stockFrom what I can discern, Lending Club had a relatively minor disclosure issue. And while LC lost major trust-points (albeit a HUGE issue), it’s important to note there were ZERO financial losses for anyone involved other than shareholders (see inset) and fired LC execs. A single bad consumer loan would produce more financial damage to LC lenders than this whole sordid situation.

What does this mean for the future of P2P lending? Well, it’s bad for LC short-term. But for other players, the situation is mixed. Less volume going through the LC platform means more loan demand for other players. But it’s a two-sided market, and clearly some institutional money is pulling back, so it may be harder to fund loans. That means rates go up, which will spike lender returns, bringing more capital back into the system. Money always flows to the best risk-adjusted return. So marketplace lending survives.

And what does all this mean to the other fintech players? We had 72 demos at FinovateSpring last week. Exactly zero of them are impacted negatively by the LC situation. The primary P2P loan-play, Best of Show winner Lending Robot, is probably helped by volatility. As the “Mint for individual P2P lenders,” that YC alum acts as a front-end to multiple loan platforms (see their demo here).

You could argue that the stock-price decline of Lending Club puts a damper on future fintech IPOs. That is probably true for U.S. consumer lending marketplaces like Prosper (which recently laid off 28% of its workforce, which, remember, had doubled in 2015). But serious investors don’t view fintech as one homogeneous field. Returns from angel investing in Hip Pocket or UBS’s recent investment in SigFig, have no correlation with the stock market return of a single public marketplace lender.

So yes, one high-flyer falls back to earth, but that’s not an indictment of an entire, highly diversified industry.

Lending Club’s Laplanche Resigns; Scott Sanborn to Serve as Acting CEO

Lending Club’s Laplanche Resigns; Scott Sanborn to Serve as Acting CEO

LendingClub_homepage_May2016

According to Lending Club president and new acting CEO Scott Sanborn, the first rule of Lending Club is to “maintain the highest levels of trust with borrowers.”

Sanborn’s remarks come as the online lending marketplace announces both its Q1 results as well as the resignation of Renaud Laplanche as Chairman and CEO. Laplanche is stepping down in the wake of an internal review by the company’s board of directors that questioned a $22 million sale of near-prime loans to a single investor. Sanborn (pictured below) will be assisted by director Hans Morris, who will also serve in a newly created role of executive chairman.

LendingClub_ScottSanbornMorris emphasized that while the “lack of full disclosure” during the review process was “unacceptable,” he added that the sum involved was “minor” and would have no financial impact on the company. Lending Club’s Q1 results underscored this, with the company reporting year-over-year operating revenue gains of 87% and an increase of more than 137% in year-over-year, adjusted EBITDA.

Other positive metrics from Lending Club for the quarter include a servicing portfolio of more than $10 billion, a gain of more than $5 billion year-over-year, and scoring its first month with more than $1 billion of originations. This included two days “at or above $99 million.” Speaking of the quarter, Lending Club CFO, Carrie Dolan said that flexibility of the model was key in helping the company “respond to market challenges such as economic uncertainty, capital market disruptions and negative seasonality.” She added, “We were pleased with the company’s growth in the face of these challenges.”

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and founded in 2006, Lending Club is one of Finovate’s oldest alums, having demonstrated its platform at the first Finovate conference in 2007.

 

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Cardlytics Launches Syndicated Audiences”

On FinDEVr.com

  • Chain Launches Open Source Blockchain Protocol.

Around the web

  • ReadWrite features Tyfone’s launch of a new challenge at MIT focused on Internet of Things (IoT) security.
  • “Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche Receives Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award”
  • Cointelegraph interviews Alexander Vityaz, founder of Corezoid and head of e-commerce at PrivatBank.
  • PayPal’s Venmo processed $3.2 billion in total payments volume in Q1 2016, an increase of 154% year-over-year.
  • Infosys Finacle teams up with Samsung SDS to give mobile banking customers better authentication technology.
  • A look at APIs in the robo-adviser industry by Bank Innovation underscores the role played by Xignite.
  • “Kasasa Wins Multiple Hermes Creative Awards”
  • Pendo Systems unveils version 3.1 of its data exploration, discovery, and analysis platform.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Marketplace Lending Power 20 List Honors 8 Alums

Marketplace Lending Power 20 List Honors 8 Alums

Power20This week, small business lender Mayava Capital honored the most influential people in small business lending in its Marketplace Lending Power 20 awards.

Representatives from eight Finovate alums were ranked among the group who are, as Mayava puts it, “redefining lending, resurrecting small businesses across the country, and consequently rebuilding the American economy, one loan at a time.” For more information about the awards, check out What Powers the Power 20.

The recipients in order of rank:

Lending Club CEO and Founder Renaud Laplanche
Rank: #1

Lending Club’s FinovateSpring 2009 demo

Prosper CEO Aaron Vermut
Rank: #5

Prosper’s FinovateSpring 2009 demo

OnDeck Capital CEO Noah Breslow
Rank: #8

OnDeck’s FinovateSpring 2012 demo

OnDeck’s FinDEVr New York 2016 presentation

Kabbage COO and Co-founder Kathryn Petralia
Rank: #9

  • Has grown to 80 employees since launching in 2009
  • Has gained 100,000+ customers
  • Has furnished almost $1 billion in loans

Kabbage’s FinovateSpring 2015 demo

Kabbage’s FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 presentation

Credit Karma CEO and Founder Kenneth Lin
Rank: #10

  • Ranked a top-free finance app in iTunes
  • Serves 50+ million users
  • Founded in 2007

Credit Karma’s FinovateSpring 2009 demo

LiftForward President and CEO Jeffrey Rogers
Rank: #17

  • Has secured credit facilities of up to $250 million
  • More than 70% of the company’s SMB borrowers return for a second loan

LiftForward’s FinovateFall 2015 demo

Patch of Land former CEO* and Co-founder Jason Fritton
Rank: #18

  • Formed the idea of the company in 2011 to help Chicago recover from the real estate crash
  • Since launching in 2013, has funded 217 loans totaling $97 million
  • Has returned $25 million to investors

Patch of Land’s FinovateFall 2014 demo

Lendio CEO and Founder Brock Blake
Rank: #20

  • Has helped more than 500,000 small business owners secure loans since launching in 2005
  • Holds a database of more than 3,500 active U.S. lenders
  • Recognized as one of Utah’s fastest growing companies in 2011

Lendio’s FinovateSpring 2011 demo


*Just this week Patch of Land appointed Paul Deitch, former managing director of Oaktree Capital Management, to take Fritton’s place as Patch of Land CEO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Straight Outta Beta: Flex Credit from BlueVine Now Available for SMEs

Around the web

  • CAN Capital reaches $6 billion milestone in working capital provided to small businesses.
  • Bloomberg Quick Take features FutureAdvisor, Wealthfront, Betterment, and Financial Guard in a look at robo-advisers.
  • Misys adds Mourad Ayachi and Bob Kubala to its investment management division.
  • “CardFlight Releases New Data Showing Trends on EMV Chip Card Usage in the United States”
  • The NYT ranks top fintech companies, including multiple Finovate & FinDEVr alums.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Live Trading Launches on SwipeStox for iOS & Android”
  • “Finovate Debuts: SBDA Group Turns Raw Banking Data into Targeted Marketing”

Around the web

  • D3 Banking subscribes to market intelligence solution, FI Navigator.
  • California-based Yolo FCU chooses Insuritas to open and run its turnkey insurance agency.
  • Oregon’s Rivermark Community CU to deploy online and mobile banking solutions from Digital Insight.
  • PayNearMe facilitates users to pay for their taxes in cash.
  • Lending Club partners with Funding Circle and Prosper to launch Marketplace Lending Association.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Check out today’s FinovateSpring 2016 Sneak Peek posts:

Around the web

  • Wipro names PayPal executive Patrick Dupuis at its latest board member.
  • Tradeshift announces partnership with Chinese taxation services provider, Baiwang.
  • Bank of Ceylon upgrades core accounting processing platform and front-end teller system with technology from Fiserv.
  • Lending Club joins Millennium Alternative Investment Network.
  • Rage Frameworks deploys traceable “deep learning” tech, Rage AI.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Check out this week’s “FinDEVr APIntelligence”
  • “Loan Matchmaker Lendio Posts 2015 Growth Numbers”
  • “Open API! Shamir Karkal to Head BBVA’s New Developer Platform”

Around the web

  • eWise expands data aggregation network to include institutions in Singapore and Thailand.
  • Peel Hunt Technology’s sector report highlights Featurespace.
  • ThreatMetrix enters into agreement with FUJI SOFT to provide online fraud solutions to Japan.
  • Lending Club opens to retail investors in Maryland and North Dakota, bringing its total to 45 states and Washington D.C.
  • Striata makes its Secure Document Repository (SDR) available for general release.
  • Spend Matters interviews Cedric Bru, Taulia CEO.
  • Zooz taps former Worldpay executive Chester Ritchie as its new EVP of sales and development.
  • Temenos announces plans for $500 million refinancing of its banking facilities.
  • Payfone deploys at an additional tier-1 bank in the U.S., now protects 50+ million U.S. accounts.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • AdviceRobo nominated to European Fintech 100 rankings.
  • KeyBank selects NICE Actimize for Enterprise Fraud Solutions.
  • ACI Worldwide announces joining real-time payment initiative launched by The Clearing House.
  • Temenos reports 23% profit gain in FY 2015; says developed markets driving growth.
  • Wipro buys U.S.-based HealthPlan Services for $460 million.
  • ProgrammableWeb features Planwise in its Daily API RoundUP.
  • Prosper raises rates on loans.
  • SafetyPay reports 2015 growth: opened offices in Chile and Ecuador, now operates in 19 countries.
  • Lending Club now offers TurboTax integration for Form 1099s.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • i-exceed Teams Up with Mindtree to Bring Mobile Tech to BFSI Sector.
  • FinovateEurope 2016: Tweets by the Thames.

Around the web

  • Popular Community Bank and Oriental Bank to deploy Cardless Cash, a mobile banking technology from FIS.
  • Mitek to combine its Mobile Verify solution with fraud prevention and risk management technology from IdentityMind Global.
  • Lending Club reports second quarterly profit since going public in December 2014.
  • BizEquity launches ‘Smarter Prospecting’ feature for its Advisor Office platform.
  • Wallaby’s Chrome 2.0 provides access to credit card advice in the browser.
  • Swipestox partners with German bank Hauck & Aufhäuser to offer its users foreign currency and securities trading.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.